The following is an excerpt
from an article posted by Prophetess Joni Ames on 2-20-00.
ELIJAH IS KNOCKING
An experiential word for the church
through Joni Ames
February 20, 2000
I promise you that the following is absolutely true! It happened to me, personally, this past Friday night..February 18,
2000....
This past Friday
night....VERY late.....a man came to my apartment door knocking really hard and I said, “Who
is it?” through the door. He said, “Elijah.” I said, “Who are you looking
for?” He said, “Christian.”—I said, “There’s no one here by
that name”—“but I AM a Christian”—and he left.—I wondered
immediately if I should have trusted God and opened the door—if maybe it was truly a spiritual
encounter. But, being a woman living alone, I was too scared to do that—so I trusted God to
know my heart and just prayed and said, “Lord you know my heart. If that was of you and you
are sending to me the spirit of Elijah, I receive YOU and whatever YOU have for me!” It was
not a dream or vision. It really happened. I watched the man out the window as he walked back to
the parking lot.
I’ve talked to others
who have literally had people tell them that THEY are THE Elijah...so I don’t want to focus
on that part of this. Because of the way the world is today, I believe I did what I was supposed to
do. But I also do believe that it was a prophetic experience and that, in spiritual realms, we must not
be afraid to invite the TRUE Elijah in.
I felt this experience was
a sign that the spirit and power of Elijah IS coming to the CHURCH. The name Elijah means,
“God the Lord.” What I believe the Lord is saying through this is, the power of God
IS coming to Christians; the Body of Christ; to HIS CHURCH. The complete article is at:
http://members.aol.com/joniames
When I read this article
it struck a responsive chord in my spirit.
I also recognize this as a
prophetic experience by a prophetess of God who has a heart for God’s people.
I began to read in my Bible
in 1 Kings 17 about the prophet Elijah. When I got to chapter 18 I realized this experience had occurred on the 18th day of February, the second month of the year. When I read 1 Kings 18:18 (two
18's), Elijah replying to the godless King Ahab, I saw the message to the body of Christ from today’s Elijah prophets: “And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy
father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and thou hast followed
Baalim.”
I feel the date of 2-18 is
significant because of this. Further significance is found in the number 2 in verse 21 of chapter 18:
“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if
the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a
word.”
There were also two bullocks in 1 Kings 18:23—one for the false prophets, the other for Elijah. Bullocks, in this case
would represent strength—the strength of the false god and the strength of the true and living
God.
In 1 Kings 18:32, Elijah
“made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.” Seed
has to do with the Kingdom of God, the word of God and the prophetic.
The church today, the
ekklesia of God, under godless secular leaders, has forsaken the commandments of the Lord
and is following a god of their own making. It is halting [read: limping] between two opinions today.
Vacillating between the strength of their “self” gods and of the true and living God, there
is also confusion about the Kingdom of God, the word of God and the role of the prophetic today.
This experience by Joni
is tremendously significant for the body of Christ today. Note also in this prophetic experience the
lateness of the hour, the bold proclamation as to who she is in Christ, the fear felt at the time of the
experience, confession to the Lord as to being ready, willing and able to accept the spirit [read: anointing and assignment] of Elijah, and statement as to the reality of the experience.
The fact that this was experienced by a prophetess of God would lead me to believe that this is a message that is directed to women
in the ekklesia of God. The hour is late, and those women who boldly proclaim who they
are in Christ, who feel fear in the midst of Godly experiences (instead of feeling confidence in their
ability to control the situation), who confess that they are ready, willing and able to accept the Elijah
anointing and assignment and who accept the reality of the supernatural power of God in their
lives—those women will be anointed of God for His purposes.
I am not excluding men
from accepting that call—but this experience makes it clear that we are not to exclude women
from this call of God.
I have researched the text
of 1 Kings and felt led to write the following article in order to relate this prophetic experience by
Joni to the state of the world and of the church today.
The Elijah Commission
Historical Background
1st and 2nd Samuel and
1 Kings record the transitions of the leadership of Israel and the ultimate decline of that leadership
in the reign of Solomon. This lead to the division of Israel and through a succession of kings to the
reign of King Ahab. As Jeroboam lost focus upon God and focused more on self, he led the people
of Israel astray from the true worship of God. Eventually, as the biblical record indicates, the people
began to focus upon the pagan god Baal. The times of spiritual apostasy and moral decay worsened
as time passed.
Baal was the chief male
pagan god worshipped by the Canaanites when Israel first came into the land. Mythology states that
he was the son of El, the father of 70 gods. He was the god of fertility upon whom increase in every
area was dependent and the god of storms, winds, clouds and weather in general. As such he was
god of abundant crops. “Archaeologists have discovered rock carvings that show Baal holding
a club in his right hand and a lightning flash with a spearhead in his left. These symbols identify him
as the god of rain and storm. Baal is also known as the “rider of the clouds,” a term
showing his power over the heavens. <Psalm 68:4>, “Extol Him who rides on the
clouds,” gives this title to the God of Israel—a declaration that the Lord, and not the false
god Baal, is ruler over the heavens.” (Excerpted from Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
Baal worship incorporated
both animal and child sacrifices and ritualistic sensual dancing and sodomy by male and female Baal
prostitutes. Baal worship was “personalized” in each locality by adding the name of
the city or place where he was worshipped. Baal-Melqart was worshipped at Tyre.
David, by his governmental
rule, had eradicated this idolatrous worship. Ahab, however, incorporated an inflated version of this
idolatrous practice into his government. The self-centeredness of Jeroboam’s spirit reached
its peak during the reign of King Ahab.
Ahab
Married to King Ahab for
reasons that satisfied the self of both, Jezebel, princess daughter of Ethbaal, Canaanite King of Tyre
and Sidon, priest of Astarte—the pagan goddess of sensual love and fertility—brought
Baal-Melqart worship into Israel. 1 Kings 16:33 says: “And Ahab made a grove ...” The
word “grove” here is “Asherah,” the female Canaanite goddess of love
and fertility, chief goddess of the city of Tyre.
Jezebel
Jezebel was not content
to simply allow the worship of Baal and Asherah concurrently with the worship of Israel’s
true God; she was determined to eliminate all worship of the true and living God. She killed most
of God’s prophets and installed her false prophets of Baal and Asherah. She successfully controlled Ahab and implemented idol worship and had him build a temple for idol worship.
We see in the biblical record
Israel plunging from the heights of David’s glorious and Godly reign to the depths of the pagan,
idolatrous and godless reign of Ahab. Focus had shifted from God to self. The apostasy and idolatry
of Israel was almost completed. The foundations of Godliness were fast crumbling. The judgement
of God was forthcoming.
Today’s Historical Setting
Today we find the same
conditions. There has been, and continues to be, transitions in leadership that have lead to a decline
in leadership. The end of Christianity is prophesied by the secular prophets. Spiritual apostasy and
moral decay continue to worsen. Today we have idol worship that includes both male and female
idols, with a variety of alleged functions.
The Idols Of Self
The common denominator
of all idols is self. We attribute to self our abundance. We incorporate child sacrifices (abortion) into
our rituals in order that self can continue its idolatrous lifestyle unhampered by the responsibilities
of parenthood. In our religious ritual frenzy we pay homage to the male and female gods of sensual,
universally accepted prostitution and sodomy (whoredom, homosexuality and lesbianism). We have
“personalized” these false gods by enshrining them as laudable characters in movies,
television and videos. Worship of male and female genitalia is conveyed by the rampant nudism and
explicit intimate sexual scenes that pervade the “entertainment” and “art”
scenes.
The Jezebel spirit has
brought the spirit of idolatry into God’s ekklesia.
This spirit of Jezebel is
not content simply to coexist with the worship of the true and living God of the Bible. This spirit is
determined to remove Christianity from the face of the earth. Some segments of Christianity have
accommodated this New Age ideal of the removal of Christianity from the earth. Jezebel is attempting
to kill off the prophets of the true and the living God and install her false prophets in their place.
Control of the leaders of nations, politics, religion, culture, the entertainment and news media has
been successfully accomplished.
The male god of self flourishes and declares control of our storms, winds, clouds and weather —our fertility and increase,
our abundance of crops. We offer up to this god of self our unborn children, and worship in sensual
rituals of whoredom, homosexuality and lesbianism.
We align this male god
of self with our female goddess of self of sensual love and fertility. We then call this amalgamation
of false gods “the Christ” and attempt to place this demonic power within us, and thus
bring our idolatry full circle and proclaim we are “gods.” Our blasphemy of the true
and living God of the Bible is now complete.
Focus has shifted from God
to self. The apostasy and idolatry of God’s ekklesia is almost completed. The foundations of Godliness are fast crumbling. The judgement of God is forthcoming.
The Real Rainmaker
“And it shall come
to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love
the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you
the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in
thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest
eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve
other gods, and worship them; And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut
up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly
from off the good land which the Lord giveth you” (Deuteronomy 11:13-17).
The Prophetic Challenge
“And Elijah the
Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth,
before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word”
(1 Kings 17:1).
God’s solution to
this failure of mankind to stay focused upon Him was to send a prophet whose “effectual fervent prayer ... availeth much.” This righteous man challenged the authority of the leaders and
of their false gods—because he knew God’s word. This man of faith was God’s
instrument of correction and judgement against the idolatry of Israel.
Elijah left the scene and
was provided for miraculously by God. After three and a half years of drought, Elijah returned to
confront the false prophets of Baal and Asherah. He challenged the people of Israel: “And
Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be
God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word” (1
Kings 18:21).
Elijah then challenged the
false prophets to call upon their pagan god and that he would call on the name of the Lord. They all
agreed that the one who answered by sending down fire to burn their sacrifice was truly God.
These false prophets were
experiencing a three and a half year drought and a severe lack of food due to no crops. It would not
be unreasonable to suggest that rituals and sacrifices to their false god of storms, winds, clouds and
weather had increased dramatically. All to no avail. Now they were even willing to believe their pagan
god could bring fire down from heaven, probably because he was depicted as having a lightning flash
in his hand.
The rituals of the false
prophets in calling upon their false gods continued to accomplish nothing. However, Elijah prayed
and fire came and burned up his offering, the wood, stones, soil and water with which he had drenched
the entire sacrifice area.
He had proven the word
of God was true and that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh
down from the Father of lights ...”
He had confronted the false
prophets and exposed the impotency of their false god. These false prophets were killed at Elijah’s command, which was according to the word of the Lord (Deuteronomy 13:5;
18:20).
Elijah then prayed for rain
and broke the drought.
God’s word is true.
A prophet sent from God, a person subject to like passions as we are, a person who was righteous,
zealous for God’s glory, and a person of faith, stood on God’s word. Through his obedience to God, the false prophets were destroyed and the evil leaders and worship of false gods were
eventually destroyed because his mantle [read: anointing] fell upon another who received it and completed the commission from God that he had been given.
Godless leadership, false
prophets and idols of self that we see in the natural realm are a testimony of that which we have in
the spiritual realm (1 Corinthians 15:46). As the powerlessness of these false pagan gods becomes
more and more apparent, so do the meaningless sacrifices of unborn babies and sensual rituals of
whoredom, homosexuality and lesbianism become more apparent. The physical and spiritual drought
dramatically provokes more rituals and sacrifices to a false god. All to no avail.
The spirit and power of
Elijah cries out to God’s people, the ekklesia of God today: “... How long halt
ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the
people answered him not a word.”
God is calling forth His
Elijah’s to confront the godless leaders and false prophets and idols of self that are running
rampant in His ekklesia. We are to call down the rain from God in order to provide an abundance of food for His people. Prophets sent from God, subject to like passions as we are, who are
righteous, zealous for God’s glory and standing on God’s word in faith.
How long will we stand
mute and silent before God, and not answer the prophet’s question? How long before we rid
ourselves of the godless leadership? How long before we rid ourselves of the false prophets? How
long before we rid ourselves of the false idols of self? How long before we pray an “effectual
fervent prayer” for the rain of the Holy Spirit of God? How long before we bless the people
of God with an abundance of the food of His Word?
The Elijah’s of God
are coming. They will appear out of nowhere, just as did the prophet Elijah. They will boldly confront
the leaders who are responsible for the decline of the worship of the one true God. God will miraculously provide for them. And they will demand an answer from the ekklesia of God. They
will provide the proof as to who is Lord by demonstrations of the power of God to withhold and also
to provide abundantly.
The false prophets will be
destroyed, the Jezebel spirit will be destroyed, the false leaders will be destroyed. The idols of self
will be destroyed.
The people of God will
return to the true and living God of the Bible.
